Falcons' Baker enjoys healthy, happy new year

Sam Baker (72) and other members of the Atlanta Falcons offensive line are introduced before an exhibition game in August. A new offseason workout program has helped Baker have his best season.SCOTT CUNNINGHAM, GETTY IMAGES

Playing in pain is a noble and sometimes necessary act for professional football players. Robert Griffin III's willingness to play through a severe knee injury, an ongoing source of conversation and controversy, was the latest, clearest example, but it happens all the time, often less visibly.

Sam Baker played in pain at various times throughout his first four seasons in the NFL. The former Tustin High and USC standout twice had in-season back surgeries. Team player that he is, Baker pushed himself back onto the field faster than he should have. The consequences could have cost him his livelihood.

But the resolve of a player, the expertise of a training staff and the faith of a coach combined to resurrect a career. Baker, the Atlanta Falcons' starting left tackle, enters Sunday's divisional playoff game against Seattle feeling positive about his body and his game.

"For playing all 16 games, this is by far the best I've felt in my career at this point," Baker said by phone during the Falcons' bye last week.

"Just getting healthy and feeling good has really helped me. It's definitely been my best season so far. I think I can get even better."

Baker's job requires not only strength but quickness, lateral movement and agility. Freeing himself of the pain in his back and the tightness in his hips has enabled him to do that job much more proficiently.

Baker allowed 3.5 sacks this season, his lowest total since his rookie year, in 1,073 snaps. In 2011, an injury-plagued, abbreviated and frustrating season for Baker, he surrendered five sacks in 442 snaps. Baker also ended 2012 without a single penalty on his record.

With Baker protecting his blind side, quarterback Matt Ryan had a career year. Atlanta finished with the best record in the NFC. It was how things were supposed to be all along when the Falcons drafted Ryan and Baker in the first round of the 2008 draft. But the ride wasn't always so smooth.

TRAINING TRANSFORMATION

Baker missed half his rookie season because of back surgery. Four years later, he underwent another back procedure that cost him four games and his starting job.

"Going into the season, I felt pretty confident," Baker said. "Then after a few weeks it just felt like my body was breaking down. I wasn't moving well. I felt I needed to find something to get me back to where I could use my athleticism and move without pain."

That something was Stark Training in Irvine, not far from Baker's offseason home in Tustin. Baker met with Stark co-owner Brad Davidson and discussed those goals: lose the pain, rediscover the athleticism. Davidson and his staff devised an intensive, nine-week program. With his starting status uncertain for 2012 and a baby having arrived on Christmas Day 2011, Baker was determined to make the plan work.

"The first workout he threw up three times, and he would not stop," Davidson said. "He's a workhorse."

The first goal for the Stark staff was to eliminate Baker's pain. Through deep-tissue work and stabilization exercises, the latter focused largely on Baker's hips, the pain was gone in about four weeks.

The second phase involved improving Baker's conditioning, building his base strength and developing his muscle mass. Phase three dealt with transferring his newfound weight-room strength into functional strength he could use to play football effectively.

Sam Baker (72) and other members of the Atlanta Falcons offensive line are introduced before an exhibition game in August. A new offseason workout program has helped Baker have his best season. SCOTT CUNNINGHAM, GETTY IMAGES
Sam Baker does his best to keep Chicago's Julius Peppers away from the quarterback in 2011. JONATHAN DANIEL, GETTY IMAGES
Sam Baker credits a change in his offseason workouts with helping him have his best season with the Atlanta Falcons, the top seed in the NFC.
Sam Baker was a standout at USC before being drafted in the first round in 2008. MINDY SCHAUER, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Then-USC defensive lineman Sam Baker talks with his dad David after a practice in 2008. MINDY SCHAUER, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Sam Baker was a standout at USC before being drafted in the first round in 2008. SAN AVILA, AP
Sam Baker, left, was a standout at USC before being drafted in the first round in 2008. MATT A. BROWN, FOR THE REGISTER
As an offensive lineman at Tustin High, Sam Baker, right, takes part in a 2003 all-star game MIKE SCHWARTZ, TUSTIN NEWS

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